Who Do You Love

Here's some Bo Diddley originals.  Hit play now and read on
Bo was a pioneer of rock from Mississippi who was an usher in the transition of blues elements to our favorite bands, the Who, the Stones, The Doors, Zeppelin, The Beatles and artists like Hendrix, Elvis, Buddy Holly.  Robert Plant called him a "royal shapeshifter."  Until recently I couldn't tell you what he did because he didn't have many charted singles, but yet his music is everywhere.

It's a classic example of the trampled underdog; he was sheisted by the record companies, never directly recognized but ripped off by everyone, the man even invented a beat!  It shows how actual influence is sometimes untraceable when we just look at the most famous people today.  So if you consider widespread, groundbreaking, but generally unattributed success, then Bo Diddley is one of the most important and successful musicians. Yet his name is most recognizable today as that of Obama's dog (Obama is a blues fan).

"I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it. I don't have any idols I copy. They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there."

Although not portrayed by Oliver Stone's brutally fictitious account of the band, the Doors' sound and particularly Jim Morrison's vocal style were majorly blues-inspired.  In 1967 they played at The Matrix where at least half of their set were covers.  They just went farther in their own direction and the blues core became less visible.  Below is their version of "Who Do You Love," which sounds like something Jim wrote himself.

Back when classic blues were still being called "jungle music," Bo Diddley was the first African American to appear on the Ed Sullivan show and subsequently banned for not playing the song that they requested him to, instead playing his eponymous hit.  Coincidentally, Morrison infuriated Sullivan 12 years later in similar fashion when he promised and then refused to omit the word "higher" while playing Light My Fire live, and they too were banned.  Only, that performance had already lifted them off them off the ground and they wouldn't need Sullivan again.

And here's Bo himself with "Before You Accuse Me," made famous by Clapton.